Players
by Lineoflights
Summary: He knew. He knew what they were in. He knew it would be a bad idea to talk to them. Knowing that, he still went over anyways.


Disclaimer: I do not own anything regarding The World Ends With You

Well, my first TWEWY fic. This idea just came to me and wouldn't stop bugging me, so here it is. Enjoy.

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Neku Sakuraba was always alert. Except for when he was sleeping, he never stopped paying attention to his surroundings, checking for any potential danger. He didn't actively try to be like this, either. It had become second nature to him after his experience in the Reaper's Game, where a lack of focus could get you a free ticket to Erasure. Because of this awareness he had gained, he had noticed when a person had suddenly appeared walking into the Wildkat cafe, suddenly being there with his companion without being spotted outside the cafe.

While he knew it had to happen sometime, Neku was still taken by surprise when he found that a group of Players was in the same room as him. He thought about walking over to them right that instant and talking to them about it, but decided not to, Joshua'd probably make them play again since they had received advice from him or something. Neku wouldn't put it past that annoying jerk to do something like that. So, with that in mind, he just silently kept an eye on them, observing and taking note of their actions. They seemed to only be here for the coffee, but for all Neku knew, the day's mission could be something simple like buying a cup of coffee or something, but judging by the lack of other people, that wasn't the case. Besides, if he remembered correctly, it was Day 6, and no sane Game Master would make the mission that easy. It was after he had made this observation that Sanae Hanekoma decided to saunter over to him.

"So, you noticed, eh?" He spoke, lowering his voice just enough so that the two wouldn't hear him.

"Of course I did, they just appeared, you expect me not to?"

"No, not really. Just trying to find something to start conversation with."

Neku sighed, he should have known that Mr. H wasn't really up to anything when he started discussing the Players that were at the table across the room. Deciding to see if he could get any more info out of him, Neku continued the conversation, not bothering trying to hide his curiosity.

"Why are they here, anyways? If the mission's done, then they should have passed out already, right?"

"Well, the location for today's mission doesn't open up for another hour or so, so I'm guessin' that they're just here to relax."

That explains things, Neku thought. The two were so relaxed looking, he just had to wonder why they looked like that if the mission was still going on. Still, Neku was worried about them, he knew firsthand how terrible the Game was, and sometimes, the only thing that kept him from ripping apart his Partner was Mr. H's advice.

"Say, Mr. H, if I were to help them, would Joshua throw some kind of technicality on them and make them play again just to annoy me?"

"Well, he knows that doing something like that might get him in big trouble with the people upstairs. 'Course, he probably would anyways. Why? You wanna go over there?"

"Something like that, just to see how they're doing."

With that, Neku got up and walked over to the two, trying to act normal as if he just wanted to talk a bit and had no clue what they were in right now. Although every alarm in Neku's head was going off as loud as possible, he still couldn't help but feel concerned about them.

"Hey there."

Neku's greeting shocked the Players, who were so caught up in each other that they didn't notice the boy getting closer. Inwardly, Neku noted that the two of them seemed to be in love, and hoped they didn't end the same way Sota and Nao did. Considering that he didn't see any Taboo Noise trying to burst through the door, Neku assumed that was impossible, unless they dared travel into the Shibuya River, which was blocked off anyways.

"Hi."

The boy's response came quickly, and with this sharp edge in his voice that Neku barely caught, telling him that he should be careful around the two. Deciding to acquaint himself with the two before starting conversation about the Game, Neku started with small talk, which earned him the names of the two, which were George and Amy. Noting the somewhat cliched names in his head, Neku decided that they were acquainted enough to bring up the Game, Neku took a daring start, all the while wondering why exactly he was doing this to somewhat complete strangers. Those weeks in the game had changed him drastically. If he didn't know that before, he definitely did now.

"So, what's today's mission?"

Seeing the two's shocked faces quickly turn into that of caution, Neku wondered if he would have done that if Joshua said that to him while he was with Shiki.

"Geez, no cause for alarm here, I'm just curious, alright?"

Figuring that they wouldn't be Erased if Neku knew the mission, George answered his question, still keeping his guard up around the teen.

"We're supposed to protect 777 from the Noise while his concert is on, okay?"

"Speaking of which, doesn't that start, in, like, 30 minutes? You might want to start heading over there, A-East is pretty far away, it'll take you at least 20 minutes to get there, not including any walls you might come across."

Looking at her watch, Amy noted that Neku was right, and prodded George to hurry up and finish, so that they could get there in time, and not have to rely on the others for help. Drinking the rest of it in one gulp, George stood up and started heading out the door, telling Amy to follow him before Neku told him to wait.

"Before you go, let me give you a bit of advice, be cautious of everything a Reaper tells you, and no matter what you do, don't lose faith in your Partner."

"Alright, thanks!" George shouted before grabbing Amy and dashing out the door in a speed that would make the wolf Noise jealous. As Neku wondered how exactly the two could disappear so easily, Mr. H sauntered over to him again.

"Gee boss, you could have given them advice that wasn't just a rewording of what I said."

"What can I say? You gave me good advice, why not give it to them?" Neku responded with a shrug. As he spoke, Neku just couldn't help but get the chills like something he wouldn't like was about to happen. He wasn't too far off, either, seeing as Joshua had just materialized behind him.

"Hello there, Neku."

Turning around, Neku couldn't help but stutter as he attempted to figure out how exactly the silver-haired "boy" had appeared behind him.

"How, Neku? I'm the Composer, moving fast enough you don't see me isn't that hard, you know."

"Shut up! What are you here for, anyways?"

"Nothing, Neku, I just couldn't help but notice you were helping out those Players. That is grounds for erasing you, you know."

"You wouldn't." Neku challenged Joshua, secretly hiding his fear.

"You're right, I won't. Although, I do wonder why you're doing this. That week we spent together must have meant so much to you."

"Screw you, I'm leaving."

Storming out of the cafe annoyed at Joshua, Neku couldn't help but hope that the George and Amy made it through the week, and that the Player revival rate for the week was at least two. Neku considered asking Joshua for a second before deciding that it wasn't worth having to be near him any longer. Oh well, Neku figured, he knew that they'd get out alright, he saw that they had some pretty powerful pins on them, maybe he'd come across them again someday.

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Well, that's it. Please review.


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